When fire, police work together the public wins

DOVER — A fatal accident scene might not just involve police investigation; nor does a suspicious blaze fall only in the lap of firefighters.

Public safety is a group effort —something both the city police and fire chiefs recognize and say they are working on to improve.

Police Chief Anthony Colarusso and Fire Chief Perry Plummer said their forces have put even more emphasis recently on working together as much as possible.

"It's not, they do their thing we do our thing. We're trying to think globally," Colarusso said. "We want to take a team approach when addressing public safety issues."

Plummer agreed.

"We've been working together as a team for a long time, we're now trying to put together a more comprehensive plan for working together and make sure we're both as efficient as possible," he said.

At a suspicious basement fire on Littleworth Road earlier this month, police could be seen helping firefighters interview people and collect evidence. A detective also joined firefighters while they walked around the fire scene, trying to determine a cause.

The two departments have also been put to the test, along with public works officials, during the last two years with the severe flooding the area has experienced. These departments were all crucial in planning evacuations and then executing them, Colarusso said. He added such scenarios show the importance of having a strong relationship between all departments.

Training together is one strategy the departments are deploying to help strengthen their partnership. Detectives and fire department staff will be meeting in the coming months for a combined meeting and training session on fire scene investigations. Colarusso said the meetings would help each department better understand what the other does.

"We can talk about investigating and legal issues and they touch on determining cause and origin," Colarusso said. "It's all about coming together as a team to get the scene secure so we can get the best possible outcome of the investigation."

He added these types of sessions will happen on multiple occasions and also involve several other "what if" disaster scenarios, such as flooding or a train crash.

Plummer said police assistance at fire scenes has always been beneficial, especially with collecting evidence and conducting interviews.

"It makes investigations go smoother and a little quicker so we can focus on other duties," he said.

Firefighters and other city staff have also been training in the police mobile command vehicle, an on-site communications vehicle used for large-scale incidents, including flooding, hostage situations or missing children searches.

"We wanted to work with the firefighters in the vehicle because there might be times that not only we're using it but they're using it," Colarusso said.

He added during these incidents it wouldn't be unusual to see police, fire, dispatchers and public works officials in the vehicle at the same time.

The departments also try to share equipment whenever possible, according to both chiefs.

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